Corofin’s Ian Burke speaking ahead of the AIB GAA Munster Senior Football Club Championship Final
BY SHANE STAPLETON
The Corofin star has just become the first Galway man to win an All Star in 15 years, proving that size doesn’t always matter.
The darting forward was a crucial part of Kevin Walsh’s plans all season, and once more is leading the county champions on a wintertime run in the AIB club championship.
Having beaten Mountbellew-Moylough in the Galway decider, and following that up with a whopping 28-point win over Clann na nGael in Connacht, their sights are now set on Ballintubber in the decider.
Corofin, who are chasing a provincial three-in-a-row, have been an oppressive power in recent times, but the likes of Diarmuid and Cillian O’Connor will be hoping to stop them in their tracks.
Should the Tribal County side claim the trophy once more, it will cap off what has been an exceptional year for Burke — who was also a key man in the AIB club final win over Nemo Rangers in March.
“Yeah, it’s a busy schedule but it’s a good complaint in a way,” says Burke at the launch of the AIB GAA Connacht Senior Football Championship Final.
“You’re playing high-quality games all-year round.
“From the summer with Galway, onto a Connacht final with Corofin, it’s all championship games. That's what every player wants and thankfully we’re doing well in it. So it’s easy enough to keep it going, you know.
“2018 has been good personally, but I’m also happy to be involved with two successful teams, which is way more important,” he adds.
“We had a brilliant campaign with Galway, a lot of positives and a lot of things to work on for 2019.
“Then to come back with the club, we’re lucky here that we’re doing okay. Very lucky to get over Mountbellew-Moylough after a replay. We got over Clann na nGael but a big test again now coming against Ballintubber, and we’ll have our work cut out to beat them.
“The two O’Connors, Jason Gibbons and Alan Dillon, all of these guys have huge experience in big games. It’s just a matter of trying to stop them guys playing, and hopefully we can play the kind of game we want. We’re under no illusions of what to expect when we go down to Castlebar, it will be a tough game.”
Gaelic football is full of tall, powerful, athletic players who can get up and down the field. Burke can certainly move, as he showed in testing out Dublin’s Eoin Murchan in the All-Ireland semi-final, but he breaks the mould when it comes to the typical player profile.
“Growing up, I was always smaller than everyone else, so it’s nothing new. I just try to go out and play my own game and fit into the system that we play as best I can. I’m happy to do that and happy that it has kind of been working the past while.
“I always try to adapt my game, learn new tricks, and keep in games if you are being marked tight. Just get on ball, things like that.
“There’s no such thing as a stereotypical Gaelic footballer. They all bring different attributes and skill sets, so it’s nice to have a blend of everything. It’s healthy for the team too.”
Galway had an excellent start to 2018, narrowly losing the league final to Dublin, then going on to win Connacht, before coming up short against the Dubs once more in the All-Ireland semi-final. In 2019, the Tribe will be looking to claim a third provincial crown in four years, but the landscape has shifted noticeably ahead of the new season. James Horan has returned with Mayo, while Anthony Cunningham has been appointed as manager of Roscommon.
“It’s obviously a huge challenge trying to win a Connacht title and we were lucky enough to win it this year. James Horan will make it interesting but we’re just focused on ourselves. We’ll try to get a few young lads in and hopefully they can make impacts like Sean Andy O Ceallaigh and Sean Kelly did, and other lads who got All Star nominations. So if we can find a few guys with similar impacts, Galway should be in a good place.”
The challenge for Burke and Co, as it is for every other challenger, is to dislodge the dominant Dubs. Jim Gavin has honed his team year-on-year, and certainly it was proven this past season that Galway won’t oust the champions without progressing significantly.
“We’re an evolving team,” says Burke.
“At the end-of-year accounts, we would say we had a lot of boxes ticked. That being said, the way we ended the year was a bit disappointing. Maybe to just be more consistent… we had maybe one and a half bad games throughout the season, so maybe just be more consistent in the big games.
“In the league final against the Dubs, we were there or thereabouts. In the championship (All-Ireland semi-final) second half, maybe we fell a bit away. Just to try to address that, and try to adapt some systems and processes, and try to evolve even more.”
